About Me

Ok. I am going to give blogging a try. I have never blogged before, so have some patience. About me - I am just a woodpusher, but I am obssessed with chess right now. I learned to play in high school and played in some scholastic tournaments, but never really studied the game or any openings. I was around 1100 player. I played a little bit in college and law school, but there were obvioulsy many other distractions that kept me away from the game seriously. After law school I got married and bought a house. All great things, but again, kept me away from developing as a chess player. In 2007 I made a push to get back into the game. I started playing tournaments at the Dayton Chess Club and even took some lessons from an expert. Then my wife and I learned we were expecting our first child. There were many things to do to the house to get ready, so i dropped out of club chess. Fast forward to summer 2012. Our second child began sleeping through the night, and when he turned 1, I decided to get back into chess with a fury. Since that time, I've played in club tournaments almost weekly. I began taking lessons again from the same expert I had previously - David Friedman. In November I won the King's Island Open U1250 section. My quick rating has shot up to 1540 and my regular rating just went up to 1468 after winning a club U1600 tournament this past weekend. My first goal, is to get to the 1700-1800 level and reassess after that to determine if a new goal can be set. Obvioulsy, I'm no expert, so don't expect genius analysis from this blog. Instead, this blog will be about the development and perceptions of one humble chess player. Chess is a passion. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would study chess 8 hours a day 7 days a week and travel the world playing tournaments to reach my full potential. As a player I only have studied a few openings. I currently play the Caro-Kann against e4, the Dutch against d4 and mostly the English as white.